


The Prodigy

by Moire (AlessNox)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 00:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12200559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlessNox/pseuds/Moire
Summary: Julie Mont is a chemistry instructor hoping to make tenure. What she doesn't need is a thirteen year old prodigy in need of mentoring in her lab.I filed the serial numbers off of one of my original works and did a gender flip. It was eye opening, and it may not work,  but here it is.





	1. Is this a Joke?

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Prodigy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080774) by [AlessNox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlessNox/pseuds/AlessNox). 



> Needs a logic pass. Did a gender flip, British to American university. Comments appreciated.

Julie looked down, and down again at the curly-headed girl in front of her desk.

"May I help you?" she said.

She didn't have time for this kind of nonsense. She had a practical exam to set up and two sets of unknown substances to make before lunchtime without having to worry about someone's kid running loose in the chem lab. "Who are you looking for? Your big brother?"

"Hardly," the child said. "He'd never come into such a place. Not unless the Governor was giving a speech here, or someone was hosting a reception. He is very fond of cheese."

Julie frowned. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait outside. Only University students are allowed in the chemistry laboratory."

"But I _am_ a University student!" the child said waving an ID card in front of Julie's breasts. She couldn't reach high enough to wave it in front of her nose.

The card showed a dark-haired child with a serious scowl on her face. Julie scoffed, "Very funny. This is someone's idea of a joke, isn't it, like that Halloween thing with the dog? Well, you tell whoever put you up to this that a chemistry lab is no place for kids."

"I am not a kid! No one " _put me up_ " to this. I am a University student. This is the chemistry lab is it not? I am here to take a class. "

"Yes, this is the chem lab, but we teach University students not primary school ones."

"I am thirteen years old? Primary school was ages ago. As I said before, I am a University student. This card is not a forgery. Call the admissions office if you have doubts. It took forever to convince that woman to make it for me. And get a move on! I don't have all day to do this lab. Mummy says that I need to be home before dark."

"Mummy?" Julie said with a smile while she jotted down the ID number. "You know kid, we really can get in trouble for having a child like you among this many dangerous chemicals."

The girl wrinkled her nose. "Dangerous? Citrate? My goodness. I can buy more dangerous chemicals than these at the grocery store."

"How do you know we are isolating Citrate this week?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Honestly? I may be young, but I am not an idiot. Besides the smell, which is bloody obvious, I did read the lab book before coming to class. Or are you implying that I am too young to read?"

Julie looked again at the girl. She was very short, with dark skin and dark curly hair. She wore a blue blazer, a blue plaid skirt, and a white shirt with no tie. The lab book, the chemistry textbook, and a physics text were sticking out of her matching book bag. Julie had heard of people coming to college young before, but not this young.

"Are you really a student here?" she asked.

The girl sighed, raising her hand to her eyes. "Finally! A light comes on. Yes, I am a student. Thus the ID card and the textbooks. I thought University instructors were supposed to be smart." She crossed her arms but her face betrayed a smug smile.

Julie looked around at the other students who were busy doing their experiments, only one person was watching their little drama. She turned her attention back to the girl.

"Well, alright. I take it this is your first visit to the open lab?" she said. The girl rolled her eyes. "You'll need to fill in this form. I need your name and the name of your lecture instructor. Who is your instructor by the way?"

"Jones."

"Oh! So you're an online student."

"Of course. I wouldn't even be here if this University didn't have the outmoded belief that a student can not prove that they have learned to do chemistry without someone witnessing them doing it. It's not like I don't have my own lab at home, although I am looking forward to using your equipment. Some of it is top rate.When do we get to use the NMR Spectrometer?"

"Never. Not in this class, at least. This is a beginning chemistry lab. We don't have access to that kind of equipment."

"Why not? What else are my University fees for? Besides Oxford Instruments makes a very affordable one that doesn't contain superconducting magnets. I asked Mummy to buy me one, but she said that I'd get to use one here. If you don't have one, then I don't see the point of coming."

Julie shoved the form and the syllabus across the desk and then turned away. So now she was a babysitter? This job didn't pay enough to compensate for the hassle it caused. She went to the bench and started mixing unknowns only to stop some minutes later when she noticed a pair of greenish-brown eyes looking up at her. She placed the blue crystals into a watch glass and went back to labeling the row of test tubes.

"That's Cobalt Chloride isn't it? It's just ...It looks a bit like anhydrous Cupric Chloride, but that's a different shade of blue. I have it in my chemistry set at home."

Julie frowned, "How is it that you come by any of these chemicals. They're supposed to have only nontoxic substances in the chemistry kits that they sell to kids."

"You mean the ones with baking soda and vinegar? Pah! I wouldn't sully my hands with them. It was a Christmas gift from my brother. He had to import it special from China! They don't sell it here."

Julie poured the powder through a funnel and into the tubes, capping each one carefully before wiping her hands down the sides of her lab coat. She faced the girl.

"Now, what is it you want?"

The child thrust the form at her. She took it and read the name written in neat grade school cursive.

Introductory Chemistry Lab I  
Instructor name: _Jones_  
Student name: **Seren Orion**

Julie raised one eyebrow as she looked down into the bright eyes and smug smile of the dark-headed girl and she knew that this year was sure to be an interesting one.


	2. The Bridge

It took less time than she thought it would for Julie to get used to her youngest student. Seren Orion would come in on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She'd turn in her prelab assignment, read the day's instructions, and then get to work.

The first time, Julie had hovered around her, explaining how to assemble the glassware and suggesting that she read the instructions carefully, until the child had glared at her and quoted back the instructions in the book verbatim. Julie backed away then, letting her work in peace. Seren was well acquainted with how to use the equipment, and she bristled at any suggestion that she didn't know what she was doing. What she did appreciate were the tricks and tips that Julie could give her about working with real substances. The things that you could only learn hands on. The kind of things that no one ever bothered to write into the textbooks. She stared engrossed at the way that Julie flicked the test tube to rapidly mix the sample, and she repeated it over and over until she could do it just as well and just as fast.

After a while, Julie began to look forward to her visits, for unlike most of the students who ran through their lab quickly hoping to get out as rapidly as possible so they could go on to visit their friends, Seren Orion would repeat each step until it was perfect. She always came prepared, and she always finished with good product. She was progressing very well indeed, until they reached their first group assignment.

Seren signed her name on the sheet on the wall, and others signed up below her only to move their names to other groups when they discovered who their partner would be. No one was willing to risk their grade on a child. In the end, Julie had to help her herself, although Seren insisted that she could easily do the entire assignment alone, and she did, doing each part of the chemical isolation herself (the work of four people) by spending extra hours in the lab. Often it would be dark when the man in the black suit would show up at the door to retrieve her. The man, perhaps a chauffeur, waited at the door and called Seren “Miss Orion”. Who the heck were her family? Despite having to do the assignment alone, Seren's grades were at the top of the class.

 

By this point in the year, many friendships had sprung up in the lab, and most students had formed study groups. Seren, however, didn't seem to be a part of anyone's group. Julie guessed that no one wanted a kid tagging after them, and even if they did, Seren had to be home by dark. The result was that she was alone most of the time.

Julie was locking up one Thursday morning when Seren walked up the hall toward her carrying her book bag. "What are you doing here?" Julie asked.

"I'm here for lab."

"Lab is closed today. Didn't anyone tell you?" The girl looked up at her and then at the door of the lab, wistfully. "You should go home."

"I can't. Harcourt dropped me off and then he has to take Mummy to the hair dresser. She'll be hours and hours."

"Then maybe you can get ahead on some other coursework. The library is open. There's a good girl."

Julie picked up her bag and started down the hall. She would have made it out alright if she hadn't looked back. She turned her head to see if Seren had gone, only to see the tousle-haired girl looking down at her feet, dejected.

The sight pulled at Julie's heart. She tried to keep going, but she couldn't. It was as if there was a rope anchoring her to the spot. She couldn't pull away, so she turned around and walked back to the door.

"Hey Seren, I'm going to listen to a lecture. Would you like to come along?"

The smile that greeted her was entirely too warm and too open. She resisted the urge to ruffle the girl's hair, turning on her heel instead, and walking rapidly down the hall conscious all the while of the sound of feet skipping beside her.

A few people glanced at her and Seren in the lecture hall, but most were engrossed in the graduate level chemistry lecture. Seren was ecstatic. Pauli matrices for electron spin had never before elicited such glee, except perhaps to Wolfgang Pauli himself. He was the type of man who could chortle about eigenvalues. Julie didn't think that Seren could understand the things that the dour faced white-haired lecturer was saying, but then again, you could never tell. Still waters run deep.

When the black-coated man finally did show up at the lab door to retrieve the girl. Seren looked back, and the look that she gave her was full of much too much hope. Julie wondered if she had just acquired a follower. She didn't want a follower, and Julie was a bit too prejudiced about age to call her a friend.

Seren was a student, but her age was a chasm between her and the other University students. Now, it seemed, she had found a bridge to understanding University life, and unfortunately for Julie, that bridge appeared to be her.


	3. Periodic Trends

The next Tuesday, Seren was waiting when Julie arrived at the lab in the morning. "Why, you're early. The lab won't open for another half-hour you know."

The girl smiled and rolled up onto her toes. "I told Mummy that I need to come early from now on. I don't want to miss anything!"

"What is there to miss? You've always had enough time to complete your labs before."

"But there's so much more than lab. I want to study math and learn about matrices. Can you believe that they haven't covered it in school yet? It seems so simple, but I don't quite have my head around it. And electron orbitals. I thought that they were simply drawings, but the professor described them as if they were equations. Are they shapes or are they equations?"

"Both...or neither. I guess it depends on how you look at it."

"But how do YOU look at it?"

"Whoa there, Seren. You shouldn't be thinking about them at all yet. You need to learn to walk before you can fly."

"No you don't," Seren said. "Baby birds learn to fly straight out of the nest. They learn to fly before they can walk. I want to learn it all. I want to learn it now!"

"Why the rush? You have plenty of time to learn things you're only...what...twelve?"

"I'm thirteen!" she said frowning.

"Oh sorry. Even so, you still have a few years yet. What do you plan to do with all this knowledge once you get it?"

"What do you mean, _'What do I plan to do with it?'_ What does anyone plan to do with knowledge? You learn it all. That’s an accomplishment in itself. I want to know everything about everything, and life is too short for that, so I need to learn this now."

Julie smiled down at her, "An admirable goal, but you should run along and find something else to do, because the lab still won't open for another half hour."

"Twenty four minutes now."

Julie glanced at her watch, "I suppose so, but at least give me some time to set up, will you?"

Julie closed the door behind her, making sure that it was locked before walking over to put her bag down under the bench. Seren Orion was enthusiastic. Seren Orion was excited. How long would that last, she wondered? For some people it lasted their whole lives, but such a person was rare.

Julie remembered feeling that kind of excitement when she had first been able to see molecules in her head. She had closed her eyes and seen the way that the chemicals were dancing with each other in the beaker, and the beauty of it had blown her away. She didn't often feel that way. Not these days. Not with the grind of day after day of students who barely cared, and administrators who never noticed. These days, she rarely gave herself permission to stop and appreciate what had seemed like such a mystery before. It did happen, occasionally. She would stop and imagine what things looked like at the atomic level. It was these revelations that made the slow, trudging work worthwhile. But most of her days just ground by.

She opened the door a crack to see Seren facing the wall and muttering to herself. She turned when Julie came out and stood up straighter, like a spaniel did when someone dangled a treat in front of it. This couldn't last. She gave it a month before Seren tired of it all and went on to find some other project, but she didn't appear to be bored yet.

She opened the door and walked outside. Seren climbed to her feet. "Not yet," Julie said. "I'm just going to make some photocopies. The girl deflated and plopped back down on the floor crossing her legs and burying her head in her lab manual. When Julie returned, she opened the door, and the girl bounced in behind her ready to begin her work.

Soon, her visits took on a periodic quality. Seren continued to come early every Tuesday and Thursday, waiting for the lab to open. By the second week, Julie let Seren wait inside rather than having her sit on the floor outside. Seren asked questions, constantly.

"Why are you using beakers instead of test tubes? Wouldn't they be more efficient? Why are we using Litmus paper to determine the pH? A pH meter would be more precise. Why is this product double-distilled when the difference in vapor pressure means that the first product is pure enough? In fact, given that most students don't adequately clean their round bottomed flasks after labs, wouldn't most of them get more contaminants with a second distillation? Why…?"

She was frenetic, attentive, always looking ahead. She wrote corrections in the lab manual that she dutifully copied down onto notebook paper handing them in for Julie to 'get fixed'. She stored them in an envelope promising that the next time she saw the author of the manual, she would pass them along. Seren was curious, irritatingly so. She was always underfoot... but Julie couldn't begrudge her enthusiasm. So few people held on to such passion for any length of time. It was worth giving it free reign for now.

When the fall term ended Seren stayed in the lab long after she had successfully finished her final project. She sat watching as others rushed in full of apologies, asking for ways to make extra points to make up for the fact that they had spent most of the term goofing off. Julie simply glared and handed them their grades. Seren held her form in her hand. The passing mark clearly visible as she waited.

When the last of the students had left, Julie closed and locked the door. She had a feeling that something was missing, but he didn't know what, until she realized Seren was still sitting quietly in the corner of the room.

“Seren, where is Harcourt? Isn't he supposed to come get you after dark?"

"I told him that I had to stay after."

"But you don't. You've been done for hours. Aren't you excited about the holiday?"

"Holidays are boring."

"Boring? Come now. You are entirely too young not to be excited about Christmas."

"I hate Christmas."

"How can you say that. You told me that you got your chemistry set at Christmas."

"I don't like Christmas because they all treat me like a child."

"But you are...."

"I am not a child!” she said rising to her feet. “I thought that going to college would make them understand, but no one seems to. People look at me as if I'm some kind of trained monkey. They think that I'm doing tricks. Making it look like I understand complex things when I don't. But I do understand. I do! I know more than they do, the idiots! Why must everyone always look down on me?"

Julie didn't know what to say. "Well...maybe it's just because you're so short? Have you had your period yet?”

“Yes!” she cried. “months ago!”

“Then it should happen soon. You'll hit your growth spurt and start to fill out, and then they won't call you a child. But honestly, I wouldn't be too ready to grow up if I were you. There are so many things that you have to deal with as an adult. "

"Like what?"

"Like work, laws, dating, taxes... Take your time. Enjoy your childhood while you can."

"But I like the lab."

"The lab will still be here when next term rolls around. Get some rest. Think of things other than chemistry, and you'll appreciate it all the more when you return.”

Seren rose carefully to her feet. “I suppose you're right. Mother said that puberty comes slow to Orions, but when it hits, it hits hard. Maybe I'll be taller when I see you next.”

Julie held the door open for her and then followed her out into the corridor. “I'm going now. Have a nice holiday, Seren."

"Happy Christmas, Julie."

Julie frowned. She had called her by her first name. Julie didn't think that appropriate, but the girl deserved a bit of leeway given all of the good work that she had done. Julie nodded at Seren. Then she turned and walked down the hallway. This time, she didn't look back.


	4. Lab partner

A new term, a new lab and Seren was there first thing Tuesday morning in a smart suit, with a new lab book, and a big smile.

"How was your holiday?"

"Tedious."

"Tedious? What kind of presents did you get?"

The girl snorted. "Clothing. Books. A model train of all things! What am I, five?"

"Did you get anything that you _did_ like?"

"Well, there was a microscope."

"That's good, isn't it? So, are you ready for this term's labs?"

"Absolutely. I have read the book from cover to cover, and I already have some corrections. Did you get a hold of the author yet?"

"Not yet, sorry."

Seren followed her into the lab, and Julie turned back to look at the handful of students at the end of the hallway waiting. She closed and locked the door. "Seren, I don't know if I should keep letting you in early like this, not when other students are waiting."

Seren hopped up on a stool and let her feet swing back and forth. "Why ever not?" she asked.

"I might get accused of favoritism."

"But I am your favorite! Aren't I?" Seren said smiling up at her.

Julie frowned. "Well...yes, of course, but if I treat you special, people might say that the only reason that you are passing the class is because I am making things easy for you."

"Bull docks!" Seren said, "I'm not going to just pass. I'm going to ace this class because I'm smarter, and I'll work harder than anyone else!"

"That's very likely true, but I'm just saying what people might think."

"I thought that science was about objective truth."

"It is, but the human world is subjective, and what people think and feel often has more weight than objective truth."

"That's… stupid!"

"Yes, I suppose so, but I have observed that when it comes to human relationships, what makes logical sense isn't always the most important thing to people."

"In that case, I'll avoid human relationships. I won't have a relationship with anybody."

Julie laughed, "I don't really think that's possible. We are all connected to each other in some way or another."

"I don't care. If people are so illogical. I don't need anyone else."

"Really? Then you won't mind if I ask you to leave now so that I can set up the lab in peace."

Seren looked stricken. "Don't make me leave. Please?"

Julie smiled. "So, there are some relationships that you still value? Nice to hear it. Try not to be so extreme, Seren. Now, if you are going to stay, make yourself useful. Check that all of the gas spigots are off? I'd hate to have a fire so early in the term."

Seren walked around the desks checking the knobs. "Does that mean that you've had a fire here before? Can we can have a fire later in the term? I haven't seen an actual explosion yet. My brother always stops me when I try to blow things up, but I did set a tree on fire once. It was an accident. Huckleberry Finn never mentions to watch out for overhanging branches."

Julie shook her head before opening the door to let in the rest of the class.

No one complained about Seren's special treatment, or questioned her high grades that term, not after she made it absolutely clear to everyone, by her tone and superior manner, that she understood exactly what was happening in the lab. She went out of her way, in fact, to show everyone that she understood it far better than they did. She had mastered the art of the sarcastic dig, and used it when anyone suggested that the lab was no place for someone as young as she.

Although her haughty manner meant that Julie wasn't questioned when Seren always had the highest grades in the class, it was starting to breed resentment among the students, and that might backfire on her in the end. As it was, most students felt that lashing out at someone as young as Seren was a step too low. It would only make them look like a bully. The consensus view seemed to be to give Seren a wide berth, which worked well for her until group project time rolled around again.

Julie was readying herself to stay late in order to help Seren finish her project again when she noticed that the name written beneath Seren's on the group project list didn't miraculously show up on another list by the end of the week. One morning, Julie looked up from her work to find Seren sitting beside another girl. She was tall with a host of tiny blond braids cascading down her back. She wore blue jeans and a tight tie die T-shirt. The sight of them sitting side by side, one tall, one short, was a little bit comical. As she drifted closer, she could hear Seren instructing the woman in the proper way to assemble her glassware. The woman had a sweet light voice, and she thanked Seren profusely for her help, flattering her on her skill and never once mentioning her age.

She heard all about her that evening when Seren came back at the closing time to clean the tables for her. The girl's name was Iris. She was in liberal arts for now, but she was considering switching to science or prelaw. After listening to Seren gush about the girl for ten minutes, Julie got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. The things Seren said about the girl didn't match with the way she acted. It may have been prejudice on the part of Julie, but she had observed the difference between the people who were in college for their own learning and the ones that used college as a means to an end. Iris, seemed to her to be an average student in everyway except for her looks and her ambition.

Iris would come into class twice a week and choose a seat beside Seren. Seren would act shy and a bit sarcastic at first, but then Iris would smile at her and call her smart, and Seren would blush. Iris would always start the experiment, but inevitably she would do something wrong, and Seren would take the glassware out of her hands and do it herself. When it was done, Iris smiled down on her and called her brilliant. Then Seren would lower her head and look at her feet totally overwhelmed by the praise. She would stare up through her eyelashes at the girl, watching as Iris' brushed her long blond braids over her ear. She would stare and stare, her eyes wide as saucers, as Iris chattered away while filling out her lab book. Until Iris answered something wrong, then Seren would reach out for her book and correct it for her.

Julie felt conflicted. She wanted to say to Seren, "You know, she's just using you to do her work." but, Seren was interacting with someone, and that was a good thing. She contented herself with pointing out the answers written in Seren's hand in Iris' lab manual and reminding her that students were expected to do their own work in class. Iris would always apologize, and Seren would respond by giving Julie an evil glare. She tried to convice herself that what was most important, was that Seren wasn't always so alone. She had a lab partner, and that was progress, or it seemed to be.


	5. Elementary Thermodynamics

As it neared the end of Winter term, Julie started noticing Seren's absence. She would see Harcort with his dark suit driving the large white car up to the curb, but when she arrived at the lab, Seren wasn't there. She would show up and lean against the wall outside waiting for Iris to arrive before entering.

Julie would hover over Iris when it seemed like she was letting Seren do all the work, and Iris would make a token attempt to do something while she was watching. Seren was also watching Iris. She was watching her almost constantly, and when Julie checked their sample and said that it was almost perfect, Iris squeeled and hugged Seren to her chest. When she released her, Seren stood there, half-paralyzed, shaking just a little while Iris gathered her things. Iris pulled out her phone to check her grades.

“I did it, Seren! I've got enough points now to pass the class!” she cried pulling Seren in for another hug as she kissed the top of her curly black head. Seren stood very still then, as if she had forgotten to breathe. So much for her resolution against relationships.

One morning, Seren was waiting in the hall even though lab had started for most of the others, when one of the other students dropped off a stack of papers.

“What is this?” Julie asked.

“Oh they're from Iris. She can't come in this week. Club commitments.”

Seren finally sulked into class then, and did her work by herself. When the last of the other students had left, and they were alone, Julie went over to sit by Seren's side. She wanted to say something, but wasn't quite sure what to say.”

_"Feeling a little down?"_

_"Steady on there."_

_"She'll be back,"_ or perhaps,

_"There are plenty of other fish in the sea."_

Nothing seemed appropriate.

Suddenly, Seren jumped to her feet. "I remember!" she said. "Her club is having a charity function tonight. She's at the theatre!" Seren ran out of the room leaving her bag and books behind.

Julie sighed. Then she placed Seren's books in her bag, locked up the lab, and set out for the theatre at a much more sedate pace.

The doors to the theatre were wide open when she arrived, and students were busy hanging banners and dressing the tables, but there was no sign of Seren or Iris. She asked a young woman where Iris was, and was directed to the stage.

She walked through the double doors and into the theatre proper to see Iris and some other girls arranging chairs on the stage as the crew shined spotlights in their faces. A long-haired brunette in a blue dress was placing bottles of water and note cards on a table. She turned to Iris and said.

“I don't see you at the morning meetings anymore. Where have you been going?”

“Chemistry lab."

"Chemistry? Why would you even take such a class? It's just a lot of smelly things. Speaking of that, I was just walking by the men's locker room. Swimming trials have started, and Walter was looking absolutely edible. Skip class Thursday and come with us."

"I'm sorry, but I can't. Thursday is an exam.”

“But the Swim Team!”

“I can't! I simply can't afford to fail another term."

"But isn't Chemistry supposed to be hard?"

“Yeah, Iris!” A short haired redhead said as she walked onto the stage. “Why are you taking chemistry. You were always awful at science."

“My advisor said that it would look good on my resume.” Iris pushed her straw-colored braids over her shoulder. "Besides, this time I have an ace in the hole. My lab partner is super smart and does all the work for me. It's a guaranteed pass."

“Do you mean that kid I always see you hanging around with?” The redhead said. “She's a student? I thought that you were just doing your eighteen hours of community service.”

“What?” The first girl said, “She's giving up the swim team to hang out with some nerdy kid! I told you Walter would be there, in a swimsuit!”

“Just one more week. Once I get a decent grade, I won't need her anymore, and I can go wherever I want.”

There was a loud sound then, and Julie looked backstage, where a man was yelling at someone for knocking over a stack of chairs, someone who looked a lot like Seren Orion. She was staring at Iris. Then she turned and ran away.

“Oops,” Iris said. “I think that was her.”

“Who, the nerd?”

Iris nodded, “I probably shouldn't have said all that.”

“You're a bad girl, Iris. Really, you're an awful role model.”

Then the three of them laughed.

Julie left the theatre and walked back to the lab. She placed Seren's things behind her desk, and waited, but she didn't come back for them. On Thursday, Iris came and took her exam, but for the first time since Julie had known her, Seren didn't come to class.


	6. Recovery Reactions

Julie was surprised to find a tall young man in a slate grey suit waiting for her at the door on Tuesday morning. He looked like he had come from the finance office. Perhaps she shouldn't have bought that bottle of Gold Chloride last term. Then again, warnings from the finance department usually came by letter, not by messenger; and the way that the young man frowned down at her looked eerily familiar.

"Good Morning. Can I help you?"

"Good Morning, Ms. Mont. Would you be so kind as to invite me into the lab so that we can have a private talk."

"A private talk? About what Mr..."

"Orion. Orwell Orion."

"You're Seren's big brother."

"Indeed."

"Just a moment," she said unlocking the door. She walked inside and the man closed the door behind them and locked it. She glanced at the door and then up at the man who was staring right at her.

"You normally lock the door when Seren comes into the room with you. Why is that, Ms. Mont?"

"The lab has very specific hours. When the door is unlocked, students assume that it is acceptable to enter. I like to have some time to set up before they arrive."

"So no students can enter, except for Seren. Why is that?”

“She helps.”

“Helps, with what exactly?”

“She helps me set up and clean the lab.”

“I see," the man said folding his hands behind his back, "and you've worked at the University in a professional capacity for... how long?"

"Two years."

"And you are, I am taken to believe, single?"

"Yes. Although that shouldn't be relevant to this discussion. What's this about?"

"This, Ms. Mont is about my sister, Seren Orion."

Orwell Orion stared down at Julie. He was quite a bit taller than she, but he was a young man. From the spread of his neck and shoulders, Julie guessed that he was about twenty. He wore an expensive suit, double-breasted with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. The size and cut were probably meant to hide how young he really was. His suit was stylish and a bit shiny. His shoes were incredibly expensive looking. probably Italian. His dark hair was slicked back across his head with a slight bang pushed to the right. His face was long and stern and his hawk-like nose overlooked a dark red tie. He wasn't exactly attractive, but he was extremely well groomed. He looked...ambitious, very ambitious.

He placed his knuckle against his chin, and narrowed his eyes, saying nothing. Julie stood watching him for a few moments, but when the man did not move or speak, she walked over to the table and placed her things under the lab bench beginning the preparations for class. She took out a folder of papers to pass out. Then she began to write the day's instruction on the board. When she looked up again, Mr Orion was staring directly at her.

"You wanted to talk?"

"About Seren, yes."

Julie put down her marker and waited, and continued to wait. Mr. Orion stared at her without speaking. Julie realized then that the silence was a tactic. He was waiting for her to get nervous. He was probably expecting that Julie would feel the need to talk in order to fill the empty space. If so, he was going to be disappointed.

The man spoke first, "You've made quite the impression, Ms. Mont. Seren has nothing but praise for her laboratory instructor."

"Tell her 'thank you'. Where is she by the way? She missed an exam. Is she sick?"

"In a manner of speaking."

The silence went on. This time Julie chose to stop it. "Mr Orion. I'm going to be opening the lab in a few minutes, and I have things to set up, so if you have something to discuss with me, can you please hurry up? I have work to do."

Mr Orion rocked back on his heels in a way that she had seen Seren do, "Well, I do have a question."

"What is it?"

"What happened between you and my sister?"

“What do you mean, what happened?”

“Are you, involved with my sister… romantically?”

Julie looked up sharply, "What? She’s thirteen, and my student!"

"You haven't answered my question."

"No. God no! Absolutely not. Where did this come from? Did she say that I was? We talked about relationships before, but only normal interactions between people. What's wrong? Has something happened to Seren?"

"That's what I would like to find out. Seren pushed very hard to be allowed to come to University at such an young age. Last week she was excited to come to lab, but this week she refuses to go."

"Well, I can't say that I'm very surprised about that."

The man narrowed his eyes, "Why do you say that? What do you know about my sister?"

"A great deal on the one hand, and next to nothing on the other. I know that she loves chemistry, and she loves learning. That's more than obvious, but she knows very little about how to relate to other people, and make friends."

"Make friends? Who is this friend you're talking of?"

"Her lab partner, Iris. Seren really liked her, but she admitted that she only spent time with her so that she could pass the class."

"Ah!" Mr. Orion said touching his fingertips together and placing them against his lips. "She's been manipulated and lied to. She was taking a chance, opening herself up another person, and her efforts were rebuffed. This... young lady, is she coming today?"

"I don't think so. I got an email saying that she is sick, but it's the swim team tryouts where she's most likely to be found."

"I don't think it will be necessary for me to see the...female."

"Can you get Seren to come to lab today? I'd like her to make up that exam."

"It is possible... likely, now that I know the cause. Thank you Ms. Mont. You seem to be a ...useful sort"

Julie didn't know whether or not to feel insulted by the term _'useful'_. The man seemed to read the doubt in her face.

"Oh, I meant no disrespect. You see... Serendipity is very intelligent, and very strong-willed, but she is also very sensitive and easily hurt. It is rare that someone, anyone in fact, takes the time to really understand her. It is rarer still for that person to be someone that she admires. You happen to be one of those rare souls. You should be proud. Her respect is not easily given, and it can oh so easily be lost."

Julie had nothing to say to that, so she said nothing. She could see Orwell Orion' approval in the way that the edge of his lip turned ever so slightly upward.

"Please pardon me for interrupting your work. I shall send Seren along later today. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Julie stood still after the door had closed listening to the crisp, sharp sound of the man's footsteps as he walked away.

“Serindipity,” she said to herself. “So that’s her full name.”

* * *

It was late that afternoon when Seren finally stumbled into the lab. She walked in slowly, looking around as if expecting someone to jump out at her. She never looked up far enough to see Julie's smile. She only held out her hand for the test, and then turned away.

She noticed her bag of books leaning against the wall, and she went over to pick them up before moving to the back of the room. She finished quickly, turned in her work, and left.

"Thank you," Julie said to Seren's back as she walked out.

She came in late again on Thursday, and it was much the same. Iris stopped by and tried to talk to her, but she didn't respond. She refused even to look at her. When Iris had trouble assembling her distilling glassware, she ignored her, finishing quickly and leaving the lab.

Seren didn't come to class on Tuesday, but it was a review day, and she already had enough points to pass with an A. Iris didn't come to class either. She wasn't assured an A, but she was going to pass, and that seemed to be reason enough for her to stop attending labs.

Seren came early Thursday morning, although not before the lab opened, and quietly finished her work, not even bothering to be sarcastic about anything. She was slouched in her seat, back curved, head drooping. She radiated sadness. Julie walked over and stood beside her for several minutes saying nothing. She turned her head when she heard Seren speak to her.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Seren whispered. "You weren't at all surprised when you heard what she said. If you knew that she was using me, why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? That someone that you liked didn't like you as much as you liked her? Should I have pointed out that you were doing all of her work for her? I thought that was pretty obvious. It isn't a teacher's role to interfere in the relationships of her students. You can't tell a student when someone is wrong for them."

"No, you can't tell a student,” Seren said rising to her feet. “But you could tell a friend." She grabbed her books then and left Julie staring at the open door.


	7. Charged Substances

At the end of the Winter term, Seren was top of her class, again. For the Spring term, Julie was tapped to do a series of tutorials on chemistry for the students. She was just setting up when Giles Lombard came in. Julie sighed. Mr Lombard was a second year student studying both Law and Science. He was a self-professed authority on everything, especially chemistry. He liked to point out when she was being imprecise and get into an argument so that he looked smarter than everyone else. His attitude, argumentative nature, and family background almost guaranteed that he would one day rise in politics. Julie hoped that he would graduate soon so that he could begin his career and leave her in peace.

Julie wrote her notes on the white-board watching out of the corner of her eye as the students filed in for the tutorial. She smiled briefly when she noticed Seren Orion threading through the crowd to sit in the front row. She seemed a little bit taller than the last time that Julie had seen her.

Julie cleared her throat and stood behind the podium. There were about forty students, mostly freshmen, in the audience, but there were a spattering of sophomores, and the odd biology and physics student tossed in to make a good mix.

She began, "The review sheet is on the table. Please pick one up and complete it at home at your leisure. I will cover some of the key points that are confusing for beginning chemistry students."

"Confusing for some students," Lombard said under his breath, "and some instructors as well." The students next to Giles began to snicker. Julie waited for them to calm down before continuing.

"That is to say, I am covering things that I have noticed previous students struggle with during their tests. We will begin with point number five, pH."

"pH? At least she's starting with something simple. Even she can't screw that up... probably." There was more snickering, and Seren Orion turned to face Giles Lombard with a frown on her face.

Julie leafed through her notes one more time before stating. "The pH scale was devised by the Danish chemist, Sørensen in order to measure the ionization state of water. The 'p' stands for 'potenz' which is French for 'power'. He was measuring the power or the charge of the Hydrogen ion, H+, in water."

A hand flew up, and Julie resisted sighing as he called on Lombard. "You have a question?"

"I think that you're wrong there." Lombard said. "The word 'Power' in French is 'puissance' not 'potenz'. 'Potenz' means power in German."

  
"I stand corrected. Thank you, Mr Lombard. The word begins with 'p' in either case, so you can use whichever word you choose to help you remember its meaning. Anyway, pH is defined as the negative logarithm, base ten, of the concentration of Hydrogen ions in a solution of water. The concentration of Hydrogen ions normally found in water being, one times ten to the minus seven moles per liter. Mr. Lombard, another question?"

"You say that we should use either to remember it. Isn't it more proper to learn the correct word so that we do not continue to spread misinformation as you did when you told us that 'potenz' means power in French?"

"I think that whatever it is that helps you remember a thing so that you can get the correct answer on the test can be useful to you."

"So, passing tests is all that you think that we're here for? I thought that we were in this University to get an education."

"You are, but we are here in this tutorial to give you the information that you need to pass your tests so that you can continue on in your course of study, and get your 'education'. "

"But that's hardly the correct attitude for a University instructor."

"Can you please be quiet and let the rest of us hear the lecture!" Seren interrupted.

Lombard's face puckered as he narrowed his eyes at Seren Orion centering on a new target. "You must be Seren Orion, the clever little primary school student allowed into the university to appease her powerful father. I understand now, Ms Mont. I suppose that you must offer such basic tutorials in order to allow people like this to memorize the answers by rote."

"I don't just memorize things by rote. I'm not a trained monkey."

"I wasn't the one to call you that, but now that you mention it, training monkeys is a good discription of the way you are spoon feeding us this curriculum. You haven't told us anything that we couldn't have learned ourselves from reading a book, and a book would have been more accurate."

"Mr Lombard. You are more than welcome to go to the University library and read any number of chemistry books instead of coming to this tutorial. You have already passed all of your introductory chemistry classes, so I am at a loss as to what you can possibly gain by being here."

"I'm with a friend. I wanted to hear what you had to say, so that I could correct your mistakes in his notes afterwards."

Seren rose to her feet. "I don't know who you are, but I suggest that you either be quiet or leave so that we can go on with the tutorial. I would prefer that you leave."

"Oh, the child has a temper. Don't you know that a children shouldn't talk back to their elders?"

"You are hardly an elder. As I understand it, you are only a sophomore. Do you know the meaning of the word 'sophomore'? It means 'a wise fool' for only a fool seeks to criticize those who are trying to help them."

"Who are you calling a fool?"

Julie raised her voice. "Excuse me, but as riveting as this discussion is, you will have to continue it after the session. We have only a limited time here, now back to pH."

 

Theirs was a charged introduction, that would only become more contentious as the weeks went on. Julie had no fear that Seren would fail her classes. She gave chemistry the single-minded devotion that only a child could. The kind of devotion that led them to know the complex names of dinosaurs, or the makes and models of cars. She had memorized the periodic table so accurately that Julie would often ask her the Atomic Mass of an atom rather than looking it up.

Giles Lombard came by the lab every so often, mostly to criticize Julie, but also to attack Seren. The two of them reacted like acid on metal, sizzling and spitting until all logic was dissolved away. Lombard obviously felt threatened by Seren, so clever at such a young age. He felt the need to assert his dominance over her, and the chance to criticize Julie in front of the class was simply an added perk. Julie let the insults roll off of her back, but Seren couldn't ignore him. A visit by Lombard almost always ended with Seren on her feet spitting insults while Lombard condescendingly commented on the immaturity of today's 'freshers'.

"Why the freshers are getting smaller every year," he said. "Like fishermen, we should take the small ones and throw them back."

Their rivalry continued erupting throughout the term in small explosions, like a bubble of steam bursting when water was dropped into a vat of hot oil, but it became a full scale conflagration after some bright sadist decided that what the students needed to encourage them, was a University-wide Chemistry Challenge. When Julie first saw the flier for it, she tore it off of the board, and walked directly to the office of the ill-fated organizer to try to talk him out of it. When that didn't work, she said, in no uncertain terms, that she would have absolutely no role in it. None at all. That was when they decided to add the requirement of a chemistry coach for each participant.

When Seren came to her watery-eyed, begging her to be her coach after having just come back from a tussle with Giles Lombard, Julie didn't have the heart to say no. However, she secretly resolved to paint the hinges of the organizer's door with an unstable explosive compound so that when he left his office at the end of the day, it would blow his door off. She returned to this pleasant image often over the next few weeks.

The initial part of the competition was a set of written questions, some basic, and some obscure that cut out ninety percent of the participants. The top ten percent would compete in a live competition before an audience. The sheet that they gave Seren about what the test would cover was laughably vague.

 **Atoms and atomic structure**  
**Organic and Inorganic chemical principles**  
**Polymers**  
**Gas laws**  
**Biochemistry and Enzyme kinetics**  
**Thermodynamics**  
**History of Chemistry**

This wasn't a study guide? It was barely an outline. Almost anything could be covered, so Seren studied everything.

Julie had thought that she was busy before, but she had been mistaken. Now Seren inserted herself into virtually every free moment of Julie's life, asking her obscure details about how orbitals filled with electrons, and the properties of transition metals. Many of them were questions that she didn't know, and she had to resort to telling Seren to go look it up. When Julie complained to Seren that she had to take time from tutoring to eat lunch, Seren arranged for their lunches to be catered so that she could stay on campus. She had to admit the food was good. Who were the Orions again?

When the day came, Seren was so agitated that she was bouncing off of the walls almost literally. There were about ten students in the competition, but most everyone was either favoring Seren or Giles Lombard. The people held signs and cheered when the names of the participants were announced. As one of the front runners, Seren would go out last. She bit her nails and literally hopped around backstage. She was going to wear herself out at this rate.

Julie put her arm around the girl's shoulder. (She had grown an inch since the competition was announced.) And led her to a quiet corner sitting her down. Seren was strung tight like a bow about to snap.

"Seren, you've got to calm down. You'll lose all of your energy, lose your edge. We don't have time for you to make simple mistakes. You need to relax."

Seren furrowed her brow and tangled her fingers in her curly mop of dark hair. "Relax? How do I do that?" she asked.

Julie squatted down beside her and placed a hand over Seren's eyes. At first, Seren fidgeted. But soon she quieted down and was still. "Now, I want you to image a vacuum," Julie said.

"A vacuum? What kind of vacuum?"

"An empty one. It is dark and cold and there is nothing in it. Then we release some atoms into the vacuum. Just a few. They move around the small chamber in straight lines bouncing off of the walls."

"What kind of atoms are they?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does. What kind of atoms?"

"Well, let's keep it simple and say that they are Helium atoms. They bounce around the walls like a perfect gas."

"An ideal gas. **PV = nRT** ."

"Exactly. Now I am introducing a bit of Oxygen into the chamber. It bounces around too but it is a bit larger."

"A diatomic molecule, O2, molecular mass thirty two."

"Yes, but don't think about the numbers now. Just think of the shapes. The way the larger molecule turns as first one atom and then the other hits the wall. The atoms and molecules continue on straight paths until an atom of Helium and a molecule of Oxygen collide and go flying off into different directions. Do you see it?"

"Yes. The Helium flies away faster. This is fascinating. I've never done this before."

"Visualization is a very useful tool in chemistry. It's how the structure of Benzine was discovered."

"You mean the story that Friedrich August Kekulé dreamed of a snake eating its tail? I heard that that story was apocryphal."

"Never mind. How do you feel now? More relaxed?"

Seren opened her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes. I feel good."

"Then, let's go out there and win this competition!"


	8. Substitutions and Eliminations

Julie stood in the wings with the other coaches during the initial table round of the competition. They began with eight participants answering timed questions around a table for points. Only three would progress to the final level. The announcer stepped onto the stage. He was wearing beige trousers and a black blazer.

_"It is time to announce the results of the second round of the Chemistry Challenge. In third place with a score of 31 points, May Riddles."_

A young woman in a light-colored suit walked forward. She was a quiet, pale-haired girl whom Julie remembered seeing in the back of class, but whose voice she couldn't remember hearing before today. She was going to have to keep an eye out for her. She stood aside. Now they would see who was really winning.

_"In second, with a score of 42 points we have ...Giles Lombard."_

Wonderful that means...

_"And in First place with an impressive score of 56 points, we have Seren Orion."_

The three finalists stood on the stage as applause erupted behind them. Julie moved closer to the curtain as the other contestants filed off and were met by their coaches who consoled them with a pat on the back or a kind word. One young coach hit a young man on the back of the head with his rolled up program. Julie turned back to the stage.

_"Ladies and Gentlemen. One of these three contestants will be named the Chemistry Challenge Champion."_

There was a light spattering of applause. _"The final part of the competition will be an elimination round. Each participant will be asked a question in turn. If they answer correctly, they will remain in the competition. If they give an incorrect answer, or if they fail to answer their question in the time allotted, then they will be given a strike. If a contestant who has a strike against him or her fails to answer the question correctly a second time, then they will be eliminated from the competition. Contestants, do you understand the rules?"_

The three of them nodded. They were standing on the stage side by side. A microphone in front of each of them. May Riddles stood on the left of the stage. She absentmindedly tapped her toes together. Her large black boots stuck out below her thin beige skirt making her look a bit like a pencil.

Beside her, Seren was almost a full head shorter in a new black blazer and a blue tie that she kept pulling at as if it were choking her.

Giles Lombard looked dashing in a navy blazer with a red tie. His white teeth sparkled as he glanced aside at the other contestants as if surprised that such people were allowed in his company.

A panel of three judges sat on one side of the stage. One shuffled cards with questions on them. Another had his hand on a large digital clock. The announcer picked up a stack of cards and stepped forward reading to each of them in turn. _"Ms Riddles would you please state the chemical formula of glucose."_

"C six H twelve O six"

_"Correct. Miss Orion what is the electron configuration of Barium?"_

1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d10, 4p6, 5s2, 4d10, 5p6, 6s2.

_"Correct. Mr Lombard according to Hund's rule, where are the electrons in the 3d shell of Vanadium?"_

Vanadium is...paramagnetic. There are five unpaired electrons one in each of the five d shells."

_"Correct. Ms Riddles, in the reaction where metallic zinc and the hydrogen ion combine to form the zinc ion plus hydrogen gas, which element is the oxidizing agent?"_

"Um, the zinc."

_"I'm sorry that is incorrect. The H+ ion is reduced and thus it is the oxidizing agent. One mark against you Ms Riddle. If you receive another mark, you will be eliminated from the competition._

_"Miss Orion, balance the equation where Hydrogen Peroxide breaks apart into water and oxygen gas."_

"Easy. Two H2O2 becomes two H2O plus one O2."

_"Correct. Mr Lombard, define the Aufbau principle."_

"The Aufbau principle states that atoms are built up by the addition of electrons and that no two fermions can have the same set of quantum numbers."

_"Correct. Ms Riddle the definition of pH, please."_

"The logarithm, no! The negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration."

_"Correct. Miss Orion, What is the atomic mass of oxygen."_

"To how many significant figures?"

_"Five."_

"That would be fifteen point nine nine nine"

_"Correct. Mr Lombard, the atomic number of Californium if you please."_

"98."

_"Correct. Miss Riddles, please tell us the different classification of quarks."_

"Can you repeat the question?"

_"The classification of quarks."_

"Is this chemistry?"

_"It is a property of matter, so yes, this falls within the realm of chemistry. Your answer, Miss Riddles... You have fifteen seconds."_

The clock rolled down, but May simply bit her lip without saying anything. The buzzer rang.

_"I'm sorry your time has run out. You have been eliminated from this competition."_

There was a huge sigh from the audience as she stepped back and walked off of the stage. Seren walked up to the microphone then.

_"Miss Orion ..._

"Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Top, and Bottom. Those are the types of quarks."

 _"Thank you Miss Orion, but we will have a different question for you.”_ One of the judges raised his hand and the announcer paused walking over to the man. _“There will be a short break while the judges prepare the final questions."_

Seren looked up and then down as she nervously rocked on her heels. Julie was watching from the wings. She peeked past the curtains to look out at the crowd and saw Seren's brother sitting three rows back near the aisle. Most of the students were using the pause to chat with their classmates, and perhaps to exchange bets on who would win.

The announcer, who had been bending over the judges table, stood and turned back to the audience. _"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are_ _now_ _ready to begin_ _the final portion of the Chemistry Challenge_ _,"_ he said, waiting as the people resumed their seats and quieted down. _"_ _This will be a straight elimination round. E_ _ach contestant will have fifteen seconds to answer_ _their question_ _. If_ _a_ _participant_ _fails t_ _o answer within the time limit. Then the opponent has the option to answer the_ _question._ _The_ _match_ _will_ _continue_ _until one contestant is eliminated.”_

 _A count down clock was projected on the stage. Seren and Giles Lombart stood side by side in matching circles of light. The announcer held his microphone_ _close_ _to his mouth._

 _“_ _We will begin with you Miss Orion_ _."_

"I'm ready."

_“Then, Miss Orion, what commonly seen material is Hans Von Pechmann credited with discovering?_

_“_ Plastic...polyethylene, solid polyethelene from diazomethane.”

_“Correct. Mr Lombard, define the term 'triple point' .“_

_“_ The triple point is the temperature and pressure where a material can exist in all three of its common physical states, solid, liquid, and gas. The triple point of water, for example, occurs at 273.16K or 0.01C.”

_“_ _That is correct.”_

Julie heard a wolf whistle and watched as a beautiful blond woman entered the back of the auditorium. As she approached, Julie recognized her as none other than Iris herself. She was dressed as if she were going to a party in a very short black dress with a tight red tailored jacket and stiletto heels. Her hair was brushed out of her braids and flowed down her back almost to her thighs. She marched down the aisle as if she owned the auditorium and the town as well. Eyes all through the crowd followed her progress as she stopped right in front of the stage.

Someone whistled again, and the announcer stepped forward. _“_ _C_ _an we please have quiet! Quiet please.”_

Seren noticed her then, and her mouth fell open. A man stood and gave Iris his seat so that she was sitting directly in front of Seren Orion. Iris brushed her hair forward, over her shoulder so that it cascaded down into her lap. Then she smiled at Seren who just stared. Her tiny black dress rode up her legs exposing her creamy white thighs. Seren rocked forward and almost fell off of the stage. Julie glanced over at Lombard to see that he was grinning wildly.

_"Miss Orion, please tell us the possible oxidation states for Manganese."_

Seren looked dazed. Iris was batting her eyelashes at her. She mouthed Seren's name.

_"Miss Orion?"_

Seren looked up then, remembering where she was. "Manga na na uh ,,, Manganese. +2, +3, +4, and +6." There was a long pause as they considered her answer, the clock ticked on. “and plus seven!“She yelled just as the bell rang.

 _"_ _The correct answer for t_ _he oxidation states for Manganese are +2, +3, +4, +6, and +7 ._ _The judges inform me that the answer was just within the time limit._ _"_

Seren's turned to look at Julie. She was upset, "I knew that, I knew that," she said. Lombard was fighting to keep a grin off of his face.

 _"Mr Lombard. Please give us the_ _atomic weight for titanium_ _."_

“That would be… 47.867 Daltons”

_"That is correct. Miss Orion. State the ideal gas law."_

Julie smiled to herself. Seren had just recited it backstage before they had come out, but Seren wasn't saying anything. she was simply staring wide-mouthed out into the audience. Julie leaned past the curtain and looked past the stage.

The first thing that she noticed was that Orwell Orion had risen to his feet and was looking at something in the front row. Julie saw her then. Iris had unbuttoned her jacket to reveal that the top of her dress was made of a sheer black lace, and she was not wearing a bra. Her nipples were clearly visible through the fabric. She leaned forward, opening her jacket wider.

"Seren!" Julie whispered knowing that this alone might disqualify her. "Seren, remember the vacuum!" she said, but Seren wasn't listening. Her eyes and mouth were open wide. She was staring at Iris's breasts.

“Seren!” Julie cried as the clock ticked down, but Iris was now running her fingers along her neck and down into her cleavage. She pushed the other hand through her hair and stared up into Seren's eyes. Seren's jaw dropped even further. Then the bell rang.

_"I'm sorry Miss Orion, but your time is up. Are you able to answer the question Mr Lombard?"_

"Yes, he said proudly, The ideal gas law is PV=nRT "

_"Correct. Mr Giles Lombard has won the Chemistry Challenge!"_

There was a roar as the crowd rose to their feet. Some with joy, some with disappointment, and then everyone was clapping.

Seren finally looked up. She looked over at Giles who was shaking the announcer's hand. She looked out into the audience. Her eyes focusing on her brother, a still figure in a sea of movement scowling up at her. Then Seren turned to Julie. There was disappointment in her expression, but she changed it to a smile and began to clap along with the rest of the crowd.

They pulled Seren and the girl in the pencil skirt over to the middle of the stage for a picture placing trophies in their hands. They told Seren to smile, but she hardly heard them. The camera's flashed. When she looked out into the audience again, both Iris and her brother were gone.

The girl in the pencil skirt shook her hand, and then Lombard did.

“Good show, Orion, but in the end, the best man won. Wouldn't you say?”

Giles Lombard walked to the center of the stage to receive his accolades, leaving Seren bereft and alone in the shadows. The spotlight followed Lombard as he raised the trophy for the photographers, leaving Seren standing dejected and alone on the darkened stage. Julie walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, but Seren pulled away from her and walked off of the stage and down the hall until she reached the bathroom. Julie followed her in.

Seren raged around the room, pounding the counters. "I knew the answer. I knew it. I could have won! I could have won!" Then she began to cry.

"It's not your fault."

"Of course it's my fault? Did you see me? I stood gaping like an idiot, and the time ran out. I knew the answer. I absolutely knew the answer to that question."

"I know."

"I just... when I saw her, it was as if my mind just ...shut off."

"It's not your fault."

"Then whose fault was it?"

"Seren, you can't possibly believe that Iris showing up where she did, when she did, was a coincidence. Someone was saving a seat for her in the front row, directly in front of you. And that dress. Who wears such a dress to a chemistry competition?"

"You are saying that she did it on purpose? Why, because I stopped helping her in the lab?"

"I don't think that she was the one behind it. I think it's more likely that someone..."

"You mean Lombard? Lombard paid her to ...to...distract me so that I would lose?"

"That's what it looked like to me."

"That's despicable!"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"But how did they know? How did he know that it would work? I never told. I never said anything!"

"Seren, you're thirteen. There are some changes that everyone goes through. During puberty a young person is very sensitive to sexual images."

“Does that mean that … she knew, Iris knew that I… even when we were in lab together and she agreed to come here to make me lose? Damn it!” Seren threw her trophy to the floor and it broke. “I hate it! She manipulated me! _He_ manipulated me. They took advantage of my age, my inexperience, my...weakness."

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"But, if it had been you in the competition. If you had been standing on the stage, you wouldn't have been distracted by her. Would you?"

Julie smiled sadly.

"You were calling me. I heard you. You reminded me of the vacuum. If I could have imagined that instead, I could have blotted her out of my mind. I would have won, easily."

"Yes, they tricked you Seren. You can't blame yourself."

"Can't I? I was the one at fault. I was the one who was weak. I desired her, and my wanting gave her power over me. It was because I was motivated by emotion. Emotions ruin everything! If I didn't feel the way that I do about her, then I could have won."

She slapped her chest. "It's my body that's the problem. All of these changes. I didn't have these problems before. My mind was in charge. Now, it's as if my mind is a slave to my body, but it mustn't be, it shouldn't be. I wish that I could just... get rid of these ... emotions. It would be so much better. I would be so much better. I wish... I wish I could become a pure brain."

"Seren, you're upset. Remember what I said about extremes."

"No. This is truth! If I had better control over my mind and body then this wouldn't have happened. I need to think about this. I'm going home now."

Seren strode out of the bathroom to find Orwell waiting at the end of the hallway. He looked closely at Seren noticing her red eyes and tear-streaked face, as well as the broken trophy in Julie's hands. Orwell reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief which he handed to Seren.

"Wipe your face for God's sake!" he said and then he walked away.

Seren wiped her face, and followed after him leaving Julie and the trophy behind.


	9. Solutions and Extractions

The first week after the competition, there was lots of talk among the students. No one but those on-stage appeared to have seen Iris' performance, so most people simply thought that Seren had choked from the pressure. 'It was to be expected,' they said. 'She was only a child.'

Giles Lombard was elevated by the competition to the status of chemistry god. He was invited to the right places by the right people, and was acknowledged by all to be an extremely clever fellow. The upshot of this, was that he found no more time in his busy schedule to harass Julie.

The downside of the competition was that Seren was gone. Simply gone. She didn't come to class. She didn't come to tutorials. No one was waiting when Julie came to work in the morning. Julie hadn't realized how much she had come to expect having Seren Orion underfoot until she wasn't there anymore.

But classes continued, and Julie had work to do. The term was ending and students were readying to take their finals, when she saw Seren Orion standing at the laboratory door. She smiled at her, and the girl...young woman, came in. She was even taller now,. Just above Julie's shoulder and the way that her limbs had become long and thin suggested that she would become much taller still.

Julie stood up then and announced to the room that the lab would be closing in ten minutes. Seren looked up. "It's a bit early isn't it?" she said. Her voice was a little deeper now. How had she changed so much in just a few short weeks?

"The labs finished last week. These students are simply studying for their finals. It won't hurt them to get out of lab and into the fresh air. Besides, I'm taking you to tea."

Julie watched the corner of Seren's mouth twitch up into a smile before going back to the neutral expression that she had worn since entering the room. "You missed a lot of work, but I'll let you make it up."

"There's no need," Seren said. "They're withdrawing me from the University."

"Withdrawing? Why? You can pass the coursework easily."

"Orwell says that I'm not ready, emotionally, to deal with adults. He's placing me in a school with students my own age."

"Oh," Julie said. "That's good, I suppose, but what do you think of it?"

"I think that I'll be bored out of my mind before the week is out."

The last student left the lab then, and Julie gathered up her things. She walked outside waiting for Seren to leave before locking the door. They walked down the hall side by side in silence. Every so often Seren would look up at her as if waiting for her to say something, but Julie had nothing that she wanted to say. Not yet.

They entered the restaurant, Dickens, and sat at the table by the window. "Back again, and you brought someone with you this time. What a cute young lady!"

Seren frowned.

"Two sweet teas, if you don't mind," Julie said.

"Of course. I'll bring it out cold just as you like it."

Julie turned then and looked out of the window watching the people passing on the street. Seren sat up very straight in her chair. She turned to look at the people in the shop, and the people on the street, before looking back at Julie. "I've been working on some extractions in my laboratory at home. Simple metals mostly. I find that I miss the university lab. The equipment is better, and I have more space to work. Mummy says it's too messy. She makes me clean it up before I'm really done."

"Then come back and finish your studies."

"Orwell says that it was a mistake to enroll me here. I have advanced intellectually at the cost of my social development. He says..."

"Are you going to let your brother run your life forever? You should finish your studies because _you_ want to! You have the talent, and you have the right attitude to become an excellent scientist. Enroll properly this time. Become a full-time student. I know that you can succeed at this."

"But ... in this case, though it pains me to say it, I think that Orwell is right. I haven't learned to understand people. I don't know how they work. Most of the time, I don't even know why they do what they do. How can I show Orwell and the rest of them that I'm not a child, when I can still be fooled like one?"

Jenny came back then and placed two large glasses of tea on the table before smiling down at Seren.

"Thank you," Julie said.

"You're welcome," Jenny replied before going to check on the customers who had just entered.

Seren picked up her tea and took a sip. Then she began to fidget with a spoon. Julie reached into her bag then and placed the second place trophy on the table. She had repaired it, having carefully glued all of the pieces together.

“This is yours,” Julie said. “You forgot it before.”

Seren stared at it for a moment and then looked away. “Maybe you should keep it.”

“You may have been cheated out of first place, but you did place second, and that is a grand accomplishment in itself. You should be proud. Take it.”

Julie looked back down at the trophy, then she picked it up and stuffed it into her backpack. She zipped it, but it didn't quite close, the gold tip jutting out of the narrow hole on the top.

Julie smiled, and stared out of the window. After a few moments, Julie turned back and took a sip of her tea. Seren did too. Julie looked out onto the street again, and Seren followed her eyes. A woman had stopped to stand at the bus stop. She looked down at her phone and then wrinkled her brow. She started to put it back into her pocket, but she took it out and stared at it again impatiently.

"I was wondering how you do it," Seren said. "I looked at Iris everyday, and thought that she was a lovely girl. You knew from the start that she was using me to get a better grade. How did you know? What did you see that I didn't?"

"What do you see when you look at that woman, Seren?"

Seren turned and looked at the woman clutching her phone. "I see a woman with brown hair in a red dress holding a phone and standing at a bus stop."

Julie smiled. "That's just a description of her physical properties. What else? What is she doing? What is she feeling?"

"She's looking at her phone. I can't possibly know what she's feeling."

"Can't you? I see a woman who is nervous, upset. She's waiting for a call. Not someone that she can call first, or she would have done it already, but she is so impatient for it, that she can't even put the phone in her pocket because she doesn't want to lose the time that it would take to pull it back out again. On the other hand, she is waiting at a bus stop. If she was in a hurry to get somewhere, she'd take a taxi. She's taking the bus because she always takes the bus. She's trying to go about as if this is a normal day, but it's not. That bag that she's carrying. It's from a hospital gift shop. She's wearing a plastic wrist band. Pink for breast cancer awareness. Someone that she knows. Someone that she loves, mother, sister, lover, has cancer. Something is happening today, a biopsy, an operation perhaps. It isn't so urgent that she needs to be waiting at her side. She's going about as if it is a normal day. But her heart is in another place entirely.

"Observation is the first step in the scientific method. The trick, Seren, is not just looking at things but really observing what is going on. What is important to her? Where do her eyes look? what are her hands doing? Where has she has been? There are clues everywhere if you are willing to look. The dirt on her shoes, the stains on her cuffs. They tell her past as clearly as contaminants in a mineral sample tell you it's origins. She has the whole story of her life written on her if you will only take the time to read it."

The bus came, and the woman climbed on. Then Julie took another sip of tea. Seren leaned forward having forgotten hers. "Can you teach it to me?"

"Teach you what?"

"How to see like you do. Can you teach me how to read people?"

"Seren. I think that you're losing focus here. What's important now is your studies. I want you to take your final exam. You stopped coming, but you can still finish the course. If you just take the final exam, I know that you'll pass. Maybe if your family could see how well you are doing, they'd let you continue on here."

"But this is interesting. What you've shown me is interesting. I want to know. I need to know how you do it."

"Seren, the final exam is tomorrow. Will you be there to take it?"

"No. This is the last time that Harcourt is supposed to drive me here."

Julie sighed. She looked up into Seren's eager, young face. It was already getting thinner, longer. The baby fat was almost gone. "The final is thirty percent of the grade. If you pass it, you will pass the course. You have such a brilliant mind, Seren. It would be a waste to throw it away."

"I don't plan to throw it away. I just think that there might be other things that I can use it for."

"Like what?"

"I don't know yet, but when I find it, when I will... observe it, I'll know."

They drank the rest of their tea in silence and then Julie rose to her feet. She paid and then opened the door for Seren, stopping on the sidewalk and holding out her hand. "Well I suppose that this is goodbye then." Seren took her hand and shook it, then she put her hands in her pockets and stood in front of Julie looking down.

"Goodbye, and good luck." Julie said.

"Goodbye." Seren said.

Julie pulled her bag over her shoulder, and began walking toward the corner. A hand stopped her. "If I took the exam, if I passed it, then would you teach me how to observe people?"

"Seren, I don't think...."

"It's a deal then," she said taking Julie's hand and shaking it before rushing across the street. A car honked as she jumped in front of it. Julie called out, but by then, Seren was already running across the quad.

  


Early the next morning, Julie came to proctor the exam but was called away to help with a broken pipe in the laboratory. Another teacher gave the exam for her. When she came to pick up the tests, she found that Seren Orion had taken the Final exam, and got a perfect score.


End file.
